Related papers: The transformative value of liberating Mars
Human-Robot Interaction, in which a robot with some level of autonomy interacts with a human to achieve a specific goal has seen much recent progress. With the introduction of autonomous robots and the possibility of widespread use of those…
Anthropic reasoning often begins with the premise that we should expect to find ourselves typical among all intelligent observers. However, in the infinite universe predicted by inflation, there are some civilizations which have spread…
Understanding the concept of habitability is related to an evolutionary knowledge of the particular planet-in-question. Additional indications so-called "systemic aspects" of the planetary system as a whole governs a particular planet's…
It has been proposed that, since the origin of life and the ensuing evolution of biological species, a second evolutionary process has appeared on our planet. It is the evolution of culture-e.g., ideas, beliefs, and artifacts. Does culture…
I argue for empowering education, adapting Marx's idea of ownership of the means of production, and discuss interactive simulations as one example of a tool in which intentional design can support student ownership of learning. I propose a…
The lunar geological record has much to tell us about the earliest history of the Solar System, the origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and the near-Earth cosmic environment throughout…
As intelligent systems are increasingly making decisions that directly affect society, perhaps the most important upcoming research direction in AI is to rethink the ethical implications of their actions. Means are needed to integrate…
When we try to search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, we have to follow some guidelines. The first step is to clarify what is to be meant by "Life" and "intelligence", i.e. an attempt to define these words. The word "definition"…
The potential future democratization of spaceflight reveals a need for design of experiences that extend beyond our current conceptualization of spaceflight. Research on career astronauts indicates that transformative experiences occur…
This thesis work aims to study the possibility of energy production on Martian soil and, in particular, to establish what might be an optimal configuration for an energy system. This goal has been contextualized in the will to feed a…
With humans increasingly serving as computational elements in distributed information processing systems and in consideration of the profit-driven motives and potential inequities that might accompany the emerging thinking economy[1], we…
Space agencies have been incessantly working to propose a sustainable architecture for human Mars mission. But, before proceeding to a giant leap and accomplishing those mission intent, it is significant to know the extent of possibility to…
Future Moon bases will likely be constructed using resources mined from the surface of the Moon. The difficulty of maintaining a human workforce on the Moon and communications lag with Earth means that mining will need to be conducted using…
The ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has risen as an imminent concern across scholarly communities. This concern has propagated a great interest in algorithmic fairness. Large research agendas are now devoted to increasing…
The availability of technological means to enhance and repair human cognitive function raises questions about the perceived morality of their use. In this study, we administered a survey to the public in which subjects were asked to report…
Work in AI ethics and fairness has made much progress in regulating LLMs to reflect certain values, such as fairness, truth, and diversity. However, it has taken the problem of how LLMs might 'mean' anything at all for granted. Without…
The goal of finding and characterizing habitable planets in other solar systems represents one of humanity's greatest scientific challenges. NASA and ESA have initiated studies of missions that could accomplish this goal within the next ten…
One of the most remarkable things about the human moral mind is its flexibility. We can make moral judgments about cases we have never seen before. We can decide that pre-established rules should be broken. We can invent novel rules on the…
This paper describes some results of research on associate systems: knowledge-based systems that flexibly and adaptively support their human users in carrying out complex, time-dependent problem-solving tasks under uncertainty. Based on…
Autonomous Science is a field of study which aims to extend the autonomy of exploration robots from low level functionality, such as on-board perception and obstacle avoidance, to science autonomy, which allows scientists to specify…